Ill-Fated
by TulisseFindekano
Summary: Word reaches Celegorm and Curufin of Aredhel's death.
1. Ill-Fated

**Note: Elrenia is an OC, a character made by me. She is the first daughter and second child of Fingolfin (ten years younger than Fingon, ten years older than Turgon).**

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**|Himlad, FA. 400|**

A lone rider was making their way over the plain, to the fort where two sons of Feanor, Celegorm and Curufin, dwelt. Celegorm saw this as he stood by the window and wondered who the rider was. They were still too far away for his keen eyes to see their face. Then, in a moment so sudden and so short that he almost missed it, the setting sun glinted off the rider's armour and dipped back under stormy grey clouds.

Silver. Blue.

Fingolfin? Not Fingolfin himself, of course, but one of his House. But what business would one of the House of Fingolfin have in Himlad?

0o0o0

There it was, the fort where Celegorm and Curufin dwelt, more strategic and a show of strength than one of beauty. It was just like her cousins to have such a fort.

_Celegorm… I do not think he will take this news well. _Elrenia sighed as she remembered again why she had come to East Beleriand on this errand in the first place. _Ill-fated day…_

Suddenly, she was there again, in Hithlum, on the other side of Beleriand.

_Elrenia stood on the battlements, looking to the east, to Mithrim, where her father dwelt. On this particular day, she found herself thinking of him. Wondering when they were going to meet again. From the corner of her eye, she saw Fingon enter and reach down, as if he was picking up something from the floor._

_"Is this yours, gwathel?"_

_She turned to her older brother, who was holding a rolled-up piece of parchment, tied with string._

_"No. I didn't even see it was there."_

_"Hmm." Fingon untied the string and unrolled it. His eyes quickly moved over the parchment._

_"Why, what is it?"_

_"It's... from Turgon." His eyes scanned the parchment quickly, then froze, horrified, at a certain spot, his mouth hanging open just a little._

_"What is it, hanar?" She walked over quickly._

_Fingon let his hand drop, tears filling his eyes. "Aredhel…"_

Elrenia felt tears stinging her own eyes now, and blinked them away. It had been weeks already. But why couldn't she stop? Why did the tears always come? The fort was about a hundred metres away now, and there were two people who had joined the guards at the entrance. She slowed her horse down and then stopped as she approached them.

"Mae govannen, Elrenia." Celegorm offered a hand to help her dismount.

She gave a nod of greeting and took her half-cousin's hand. "Mae govannen Celegorm, Curufin." Elrenia was careful to keep her expression emotionless for now.

"Malthoron will take care of Ranya," Curufin said, nodding to one of the guards, who nodded back and took Elrenia's horse.

"Come inside, it must have been a long journey from Mithrim," Celegorm said as he led the way in.

"Dor-lomin," Elrenia corrected. "Yes, it has. I've lost count of the weeks."

Curufin let out a short laugh. "But you never forget, Elrenia. Maybe you didn't bother to count."

She smiled a little. "No, you're right, I didn't."

"But don't you always?" Elrenia always liked to keep count of the days that it took to make a journey, and not doing so was rather... uncharacteristic. There must be something wrong, Curufin guessed. And his cousin was usually more expressive than she was now.

"Not this time."

Now they entered the brothers' quarters and stopped in the sitting room. "But no petty thing has brought you here," Celegorm said, turning to grave matters. "And even then, Fingolfin - or Fingon - might have just sent a messenger." He gestured for her to sit down, and did so himself.

Elrenia sighed and settled into a chair. "I took it upon myself to take the message to you. And it has been a while since I have seen you, anyway."

"What is it?" Curufin said, a little impatiently.

"It must have been months ago. Fingon and I were out on the battlements, and he found a piece of parchment lying on the stone - a letter from Turgon. An Eagle must have dropped it. If not, then I do not know how it came to us." She took a deep breath and looked up at her half-cousins, eyes shining with tears.

"Aredhel is dead."

"What? How?" Celegorm exclaimed as he leapt to his feet. Curufin stared blankly at his half-cousin.

"Poisoned wound," Elrenia said softly. "They didn't know until it was too late. Eol threw it at his son but Aredhel took it for him."

Celegorm slammed his fist on the table and began pacing around the room angrily. "Curse that Dark Elf! Curse him and-"

"He is dead," Curufin interrupted. "Isn't he?" His voice was eerily calm, but Elrenia knew that it was but a mere mask for her sister's death. They had been close before the strife; Aredhel, Celegorm, and Curufin.

Elrenia nodded. "Thrown off a cliff. Serves him right."

Celegorm fell back in his seat, his rage all spent in his thoughts. "To the Everlasting Darkness with them- Eol and Maeglin," he muttered. "What madness led her to marry that Dark Elf?"

"I do not know," Elrenia admitted, closing her eyes.

Curufin stood up and slowly walked over to the window. "Nothing good will come out of that. Only darkness... Only darkness."

Elrenia turned away and desperately tried to stop the tears but she failed - not for the first time - and wept silently. For several moments, the only sound heard in that room was Tyelkormo's shaky breaths as he sobbed.

And then, as though Manwe and Ulmo also were mourning the loss of another Noldo, it began to rain.

_0o0o0o0o0_

_A/N: I originally wrote this with Quenya. After looking at the timeline, I decided that I either had to be off-canon and keep the Quenya, or be canon and switch all the Quenya words for Sindarin words. As you can see, I decided the latter. Thanks, Thingol..._

_**Also, special thanks goes to Ranger Turien and my amazing friend Serethiel for proofreading!**_

TRANSLATIONS

_gwathel = sister_

_hanar = brother_

_mae govannen = well met_


	2. No Comfort, No Respite

**Note: Sorry for the short chapter! Tyelkormo/Celegorm is going to have a part too.**

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Curufin tossed and turned in his bed, his mind refusing sleep. The soft tapping of the rain on the window did not help nor hinder sleep from coming. Exasperated, he threw off the covers and changed from his sleep clothes into a fresh tunic and pants.

After Elrenia had arrived with such troubling news, he still did not know what to think… or say. Celegorm had withdrawn to his room early, and they did not speak much afterwards, even though they had the evening meal together. Elrenia had decided to stay for a few days before beginning the return-journey back to Hithlum.

Curufin pulled his cloak on and left his room, his mind racing in the quiet of the night, going through hundreds of years of memories. Most of them were of him and his favourite brother, hunting in Valinor with… Aredhel. Desperately he tried to lock them away - he couldn't cry. He just couldn't. Crying, to him, was a sign of weakness, had always been a weakness. Angrily, he forced himself out of the recesses of his memories and into the waking world.

He found himself standing at the entrance of the forge.

The forge, where he usually found respite from his mind, from his feelings, his thoughts. Where he found comfort in new ideas, new inventions, and his craft.

Not only his, but his father's.

_Adar…_ He shut his eyes tightly.

And then he was sent wheeling back - by Eithel Sirion, at the Pass.

"No!" Curufin exclaimed, turning away, his arm outstretched behind him. He could not let the memories take a hold of him. "Go. Away."

A haunting, deep voice arose in the corners of his mind, rebelling against his will.

_"Their Oath shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue. To evil end shall all things turn that they begin well, and-"_

"ENOUGH!" He yelled, his fists clenched.

And then the voice was gone, and in the halls of the fortress his cry echoed again and again.

Curufin let himself sink down onto the cold marble floor, and put his head in his hands.


End file.
